Foot healed, third base could be Trumbo’s next step

Angels first baseman Mark Trumbo could join Tim Salmon as the only players in franchise history to win the AL Rookie of the Year award.<br> Click on the photos for a rundown of the top contenders for the rookie award.<br>TEXT BY BILL PLUNKETT, PHOTO BY GETTY IMAGES

The foot injury that Mark Trumbo ended the season with has healed. Now, the next step in his off-season will involve getting a leg up on learning a new position.

The Angels' team leader in home runs (29) and RBI (87) ended his rookie season with a stress fracture in his right foot. Six weeks of limited activity has allowed the fracture to heal and Trumbo underwent a CT scan Tuesday to confirm that. He is scheduled to meet with foot-and-ankle specialist Dr. Philip Kwong on Friday with the expectation that he will be cleared to start his off-season workouts with no limitations.

"The foot is great. No pain whatsoever. No discomfort," said Trumbo who has focused his workouts on cardio and upper-body weight exercises while waiting for the fracture to heal. "As soon as I get the clearance (from Dr. Kwong), it (his off-season workouts) will start to get pretty intense pretty quick."

Before the fracture surfaced over the final month of the season, Trumbo had been tentatively planning to play winter ball again this off-season and "explore" playing third base. He won't play winter ball but the Angels are still interested in finding out if Trumbo can move across the diamond as a way to keep both Trumbo and Kendrys Morales in their 2012 lineup (if Morales returns ready to play first base on a regular basis) while adding pop to a position that has become a weak spot in the Angels' lineup.

In 2011, Angels third basemen (namely, Alberto Callaspo and Maicer Izturis) combined for just seven home runs (27th in the majors), 55 RBI (26th) and a .379 slugging percentage (17th), all well below the league average for American League third basemen. The numbers in 2010 were just as bad.

A frequent topic of discussion in the media and among fans, Trumbo said Angels manager Mike Scioscia had never broached the idea of a position switch to third base with him – until recently. Scioscia finally called Trumbo earlier this month and told him the Angels would like Trumbo to work out at third base with coach Rob Picciolo this off-season to see if asking Trumbo to play there during the 2012 season is a realistic option.

"He called and we talked about things. It is going to be explored," said Trumbo of his conversation with Scioscia. "It (the discussion) was pretty cut and dried. He said, 'I know you've heard a lot of talk about this. We'd like to give it a look at least and if things look okay, we'll explore it further. If not -- no harm done.'"

Trumbo actually worked at third base when he began his professional career with the Angels in 2005. Ironically, it was Picciolo (the Angels' minor-league roving infield instructor from 2006 through 2010) who helped convert Trumbo to first base when it was decided he couldn't meet the defensive demands at third.

"I'm looking forward to it, no doubt," Trumbo said. "I'm not kidding myself about how easy it's going to be. But in the interests of helping the team and helping my career out, I'm excited about giving it a try."

At the end of the season, Scioscia characterized a full-time move of Trumbo to third base as "a longshot." But he did indicate it was something that could become an option on an occasional basis.

"I think where you could see Mark playing third (is in a part-time role)," Scioscia said. "As you study spray charts with some of our pitchers and you had a sinkerball pitcher that has a lot of left-side action, you want a third baseman who is very, very proficient. If you have a fly-ball pitcher who has a spray chart with virtually no left-side action, you can spot a guy who can make the routine play and not have to bring the range some other guys do.

"I think the experiment with Mark is not to see if he's going to be a 162-game third baseman. But if he becomes a 50- to 60-game third baseman, it will deepen your lineup to have his bat in the lineup with some of the other guys we have projected to either return to our lineup or bounce back."

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Click on the photos for a look at the leading candidates for this year's Rookie of the Year award in the AL. The award winner will be announced Tuesday, Nov. 15.

Angels first baseman Mark Trumbo could join Tim Salmon as the only players in franchise history to win the AL Rookie of the Year award. Click on the photos for a rundown of the top contenders for the rookie award.TEXT BY BILL PLUNKETT, PHOTO BY GETTY IMAGES

Angels 1B Mark Trumbo led all major-league rookies with 29 home runs and 87 RBI, becoming the first rookie in franchise history (and the first rookie in the majors since 2003) to lead the team in both of those categories. His average (.254) and on-base percentage (.291), however, would be among the lowest ever for a ROY winner.

Trumbo has already won two rookie awards in player voting -- the Sporting News AL Rookie of the Year award and the Players Choice Outstanding AL Rookie award.

TEXT BY BILL PLUNKETT, PHOTO BY KEVIN SULLILVAN

Rays right-hander Jeremy Hellickson was not just one of the best rookie pitchers in 2011, he was one of the top pitchers in the American League. Hellickson finished 13-10 with a 2.95 ERA, led all rookies in innings pitched (189) and held opposing batters to a .210 batting average. Only the Cy Young favorites (Tigers ace Justin Verlander in the AL and Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw in the NL) held opposing batters to lower batting average.

TEXT BY BILL PLUNKETT, AP PHOTO

All Yankees right-hander Ivan Nova did was win -- he led all rookies with 16 victories (against only four losses). The rest of his stats don't match up with Hellickson, however -- a 3.70 ERA, .233 batting average against, 1.32 WHIP and 98 strikeouts in 165 1/3 innings.

TEXT BY BILL PLUNKETT, AP PHOTO

Angels right-hander Jordan Walden was thrust into the closer role as a rookie in 2011 and set a franchise record with 32 saves. But he also tied for the major-league lead with 10 blown saves and isn't likely to continue the string of ROY closers in the AL West (following 2009 winner Andrew Bailey of the A's and 2010 winner Neftali Feliz of the Rangers).

TEXT BY BILL PLUNKETT, AP PHOTO

Though he started the season in the minors, Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer nearly matched Trumbo's power production with 19 home runs and 78 RBI in 128 games. His slash line (.293/.334/.465) was much better than Trumbo produced.

TEXT BY BILL PLUNKETT, AP PHOTO

Like Hosmer, Mariners second baseman Dustin Ackley got a late start on his big-league season in 2011. But he hit .273 with a .348 on-base percentage, .417 slugging percentage and six home runs in 90 games for the Mariners.

TEXT BY BILL PLUNKETT, AP PHOTO

Mariners right-hander Michael Pineda was the ROY frontrunner in the AL for most of the season. Concerned about his workload, however, the Mariners put a cap on Pineda's workload and lilmited his appearances late in the season. He finished 9-10 for the last-place team with a 3.74 ERA while striking out 175 (tops among all rookie pitchers in 2011) in 171 innings with a 1.10 WHIP and a .211 batting average against.

TEXT BY BILL PLUNKETT, AP PHOTO
The 2011 American League Rookie of the Year will be announced Tuesday morning. Trumbo could join Tim Salmon (above) as the only ROY winners in Angels history. Salmon won the award in 1993, geting all 28 first-place votes in a field that included future teammate Aaron Sele (third in the voting) -- and new Angels GM Jerry Dipoto (who received one third-place vote after debuting with the Indians that year).TEXT BY BILL PLUNKETT, FILE PHOTO

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